Biography of James P. CurtisScott County, VA Biographies

AMONG the skillful workers in wood and metal which old home manufacturing produced, none, perhaps, outranked
James P. Curtis. He was the son of Clalborne Curtis and was born near Norfolk, Virginia, October 28, 1824. In 1844,
he was married to Lucinda Meredeth, of Pulaski County, Virginia. In 1881, he came to Scott County and located near
Hiltons, Virginia.

As a cabinet maker, Mr. Curtis' handiwork was much sought after. He manufactured a turn plow that had a wide sale.
He Invented a churn that could be run by the motion of a rocking chair. He was also a millwright and wagon maker.
But he was best known in this section as a gunsmith. During the Civil War he manufactured sabers for the Confederate
Army. It is estimated that as many as a thousand guns were the output of his shop.

He was the father of sixteen children, of whom five are yet living, Hugh C., Robert L., Thomas P., Mollie, and
Edna.

James P. Curtis died July 30, 1908, and Lucinda, his wife, died March 4, 1908.

FROM:
History of Scott County, Virginia
By: Robert M. Addington
Privately Printed 1932